A zombie battling a human in order to save another human. Ironic considering zombies have been terrorizing the Earth for ten whole years. Devouring any human they could get their hands on. Flooding every city and town with their unintentional determination and persistence. Well, those mindless monsters weren't the only thing determined to do something they were created to do.

I had a kid to save and a guy that seriously needed his ass beat. Whatever a “Radius” was, that title was the only reason we were still alive, and unfortunately for Dante, he had to fight us with that fact in mind.

Although, calling this a “fight” was an overstatement considering the guy was currently sprinting down the hallway. Dante ran like he had rockets strapped to his feet, dodging left and right as I hurled random objects at him. Potted plants, chairs, even a damn table! I threw everything I could see but he twisted and ducked, moving mere inches out of the way.

Throughout the entire chase, one question lingered heavily in my mind. Why was he running? If he just activated a forcefield around himself, he wouldn’t need to worry about my fist destroying his sharp ass jaw. Or my foot going through his balls!

If I remembered correctly, ever since a couple days ago, Dante has only ever used two forcefields. When he jumped down through the Underground entrance, he purposely kept me submitted with one bubble while he kept the one around Sunshine. He didn’t use one for himself. Even when I confronted him here on the 98th floor, he never had a forcefield around him.

Was his limit only two? But if that’s the case then…why wasn’t he using one now? I was sure he hadn’t seen my new absorption technique as he was still quite shaken up from my daughter’s new power and I was already out by the time he regained his composure. He couldn’t have anticipated I would absorb his ability too quickly for him to handle. Maybe he had something up his sleeve, planning to use it on me at any moment.

In any case, the best way to deal with that new mystery was to deal with Dante, who… had just jumped out a window! Without hesitation, I bolted after him, leaping out the window as well.

For a moment, all I felt was a rush of air and the shock of the sheer drop beneath me. I knew I had just jumped out of a skyscraper, but it didn’t occur to me how high 98 floors actually was. What shocked me a little more was Dante, a few feet below me, smirking, as if he’s done this a million times before. The asshole even had the nerve make a very rude gesture at me!

Wait! That wasn’t the middle finger…He was holding something! A green orb the size of a tennis ball was between his fingers and the man proceeded to toss it over to me, an ominous aura radiating off of it. Suddenly, the ball grew to the size of one of Dante’s forcefields and, in a flash of light, dispersed as a zombie emerged from it.

But it wasn't just any normal zombie. The moment it grabbed onto my neck, I immediately felt this strong pain surge through me. A pain that only the Radius and that big bird, Jerry, could make me feel. The zombie’s hands along with the rest of its body were composed of rotten flesh, its eyeball drooping out of the socket like a tongue hanging out a dog’s mouth. Despite its decayed appearance, the strength in its arms were surprisingly high, flinging me back up with one throw.

No, this wasn’t a normal zombie at all. This thing was a Type Two Radion like me!

Shit! So this is what he was using that second forcefield for.

As I began to descend back down, I saw Dante slowly ascending while on top of a bubble—Sunshine levitating behind him. After an overconfident laugh that was pretty standard for him at this point, he shouted “Enjoy fighting that thing while I watch safely from the sidelines! I’m sure it’ll have you begging for mercy in no time!”

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Fighting like a damn coward. I should've kno-

The thought was barely complete before something hard and fast slammed into my stomach like a runaway train, sending bolts of pain through my bones. Then, I was airborne–spiraling away from the Radius’ skyscraper. I looked down and realized it was that damn zombie, its head lodged into my abdomen. Just as we were about to crash onto the roof of a building, I used the energy I absorbed from before to activate my rocket boost ability. It took determination and a whole lot of willpower to turn my body around–enough so that the monster’s back was facing the roof.

I gripped its back with all my might, despite the peeling skin threatening to slip from my grasp. With great force, we collided with the building’s roof. Fortunately, we didn’t break through the entire thing as I managed to dissipate some of the energy’s power before the crater could become a hole. To my dismay, even that wasn't enough to put the zombie down for good as it began to dig through my eye holes, blocking my vision.

“I’m sure you're already aware by now considering you're one yourself,” sneered Dante, his voice coming from above. “but you can't just kill that thing with an attack like that. It's a type two Radion, fool. It can't feel any pain.”

I chose to ignore Dante’s mockery and focus on ripping through the radion’s mossy colored skin, but like the asshole said, the thing didn’t feel an ounce of what I did. It was weird fighting a zombie up close and personal like this. Any human knew something doing this was pretty much suicide unless they had some special crazy martial art skills that would only be useful in a zombie apocalypse. But even that was dangerous considering all the radioactive ooze oozing out of its-

Wait…that’s it! Every zombie I’ve encountered so far all had something in common. The radioactive ooze in their body. And this type two Radion wasn’t any different as I felt its essence spill onto my hands. I knew exactly what I had to do.

I pierced my fingers fully through its arms and activated my ability, the ooze entering through my fingers. It was at that moment that I underwent some kind of transformation. My bones began to protrude from my body, like a suit of armor protecting my true form. Energy flared up from my triceps and even the top of my skull. And to top it all off, the radioactive essence I took in lined up my entire body, giving me the vascularity of an absolutely shredded bodybuilder.

A powerful strength flowed through me and all of…this came from me absorbing my own species. While I didn't have a heart anymore, something was still beating inside of my chest, telling me to finish this fight once and for all. Ordering me to do the one thing I told myself I was gonna do.

As I ripped my fingers out of the now immobile zombie’s arms, I noticed a strange silence in the area. Dante’s annoying cackle or stupid words weren't there anymore. I looked up and my fingers twitched.

He was gone!

My instincts kicked in and I glanced towards the skyscraper, somehow knowing where he'd be. Sure enough, he was standing on one of his forcefields, flying towards the 99th floor. The guy didn't even look back at me…did he seriously think that would stop me!?

The energy sitting on top of my body burned bright with intensity as I crouched down and flexed my legs. Then, I jumped, a shockwave tearing apart the building’s head from the sheer force. I shot through the air, charging a nuclear-powered fist until I finally reached Dante, whose eyes widened the second I came into his view.

The coward tried to drop into his bubble, but he only got halfway through before I forcefully slammed my fist against his ability. Embers trailed off my arm, crackling energy dancing around his forcefield. With a little more effort, I knocked Dante out of my sight, destroying the 98th floor’s wall and sending him rolling across the floor until he stopped at the other end.

The scream he made right before my attack was like music to my ears. And I needed to hear more.

I rocketed myself to the inside of the building and took a couple steps through. He dropped my daughter’s forcefield near the hole I made so I hopefully didn't need to worry about her.

Only him.

Dante was leaning on a wall and it looked like blood was all over his face. He breathed quickly and heavily. Breaths that got quicker once he realized I was across from him.

I steadied my stance, planting my feet firmly as I cupped my hands at my side, fingers trembling with the nuclear energy building between my palms. Miniature orbs gathered into a single, large ball at the center of my hands, pulsing in the same rhythm as the mysterious beating in my chest. It illuminated the entire floor with this fierce green hue as it grew heavier the more I held it.

It was hard to maintain but I needed it to be the strongest it could be in the moment Dante decided to use another forcefield. To break through it was all I needed to do!

He struggled to crawl away–his leg possibly injured. That was good. There was no need to aim then.

“Hey Dante! Were you ever a fan of those Saturday Morning shows from back in the day!? This next attack takes a little inspiration from that!”

I thrust my hand forward and echoed.

“Fatherly Beam!”

The energy exploded out in a roaring beam, its force shaking the ground and lighting up everything in its path. It tore through the air and eventually reached Dante, seemingly obliterating him out of sight and eviscerating the wall behind him as well.

Well then, it's about damn time!